Judge postpones polygamist leader's trial

St. George, USA - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs won't be going to trial on April 23, after all.

A St. George judge has postponed Jeff's trial on a rape as an accomplice charge in order to hear defense arguments for suppressing evidence.

Jeffs - the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect - is charged in connection with a so-called "spiritual" marriage between a minor girl and an older man.

Jeffs' attorneys are asking Shumate to suppress evidence taken during Jeffs' capture in August near Las Vegas. They claim the stop made by the Nevada Highway Patrol violated Jeffs' protections against unreasonable search and seizures. Such motion hearings often are scheduled to occur just before a trial starts. Fifth District Court Judge James Shumate has scheduled Jeffs' trial to last two weeks.